The Most Important Concert

Unless you were there, you can't really understand why this concert was so important. The band wasn't that huge, but they were passionate, and on this night, in that hot, cramped venue, the 200 audience members all experienced something unique, and all of them left there changed, and all of them formed bands soon after. Most failed, but several didn't, including a few huge bands. That's why this was the most important concert ever.

That, and the noise complaints to the propery owner getting the venue closed, allowing for the redevelopment to start and radically alter the city. That too.

Two Suspects

The cop approached the car slowly, taking his time.

"License and registration."

He said this before he got to the car window. When he got to it, his hand went to his hip, fumbling with his gun. After a moment, when he couldn't pull his gun, he ran back to his cruiser and desperately called for backup.

When it arrived, a perimeter was established, guns trained quickly, as the captain got a bullhorn and demanded they put down their weapons and exit with their hands up.

Luckily for them, they were dead from blood loss before the cops opened fire.

Knocked Out

The fists had been flying for 14 rounds, and as the bell rang for the final round, the fans were at fever pitch.

The challenger approached first, gloves up. Although he was behind on points, he was obviously fresher and still had more in the tank.

The champ, on the other hand, was, slow, deliberate, and clearly looking to just run out the clock.

The fans, who had been mostly on the side of the champ at the start, were cheering the challenger on as he threw punches.

All that narrative tension, only to end with a broken ankle slip... 

Make Do

I found a hand trowel, which, while being barely bigger than my son's hand, would do.

I found an open patch of grass and moss, which, seeing as it was by a babbling brook, and was a big bigger than my son's body, would do.

I found the digging easy, which, considering how little time I had, plus how distracted I was, would do.

I found my son where I had left him, which, considering no-one was watching him, would do.

I hope if you go to that babbling brook, you find that patch. As a playpen, it will do.

The Ultimate Demon

The Ultimate Demon appeared in the circle.

"WHO HAS DARED TO-

WAIT, WHAT?"

It looked down at a small child, dressed in rags, looking up at it with wide eyes.

"HOW DID YOU SUMMON ME?"

The child looked down at the ground, scraps of garbage scattered around in the shape of the language of creation.

"THAT'S THE MARK OF GI...

FINE. WHAT ARE YOUR ORDERS, MASTER?"

The small child coughed.

"Uh, make things better."

The Ultimate Demon blinked.

"FOR YOU, YOU MEAN?"

"For Everyone."

The Ultimate Demon sighed, and got to work.

We now worship The Angel Sent By God.

Lady Of The Night

When I opened the hole in the wall coffee shop, she quickly became one of my best customers, at least of those I dealt with. Certainly she understood my working the evening shift, she hated having to set an alarm too.

But it took me far too long to work out who she was. Sure, I was often busy, but even with that excuse, the way she hung out on the street corner most nights, talking to cars that pulled up... I should have seen it earlier.

The perfect late night coffee waitress for drive-up customers, that's all, your honor.

Lights Out

The car slowly pulled up to the curb, quietly parking, all lights darkening as it fell silent.

As the minutes passed, I didn't really pay attention to it as I focused on my work. But I would have noticed movement, and so the longer it was without it, I began to question things somewhat.

Eventually I put down the papers I was reviewing and approached it. I expected to see someone sitting in the driver's seat, maybe sleeping.

Someone was in the seat, but they weren't actually sleeping.

At least they managed to park it safely before things went dark.

Expanded Data

When I requested a situation report from the outpost, it came back with a glowing report about all the various readings and data it was collecting.

Except that the data looked very familar, distressingly so.

So I set things in motion, I had various spy facilities train their various outreach arms to examine the base and ordered then to find what it was that they were up to.

All of them came back with the same information, that everything was as they said, and it was all fine.

Unbeknownst to me, I was just expanding their control with each spy.

The Heretic And The Antigod

The Heretic unlocked the final seal holding back The Antigod, and was bathed in fire.

The Heretic found themselves surrounded by lava and fire, and before them, a chintzy little bedroom set, a middle aged looking woman with fire red hair and coal black skin looking at him over a breakfast.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, yes Antigod, I renounced my faith in the Gods when they destroyed my wife and village, they call me The Heretic for trying to awaken you to destroy them!"

"So you're not a Heretic, you just changed your faith?" Auntie God said, standing up.

Guarded

We were reviewing the requirements for the border crossing with the Elven land.

"So we need to make sure the guard here is incredibly stupid."

"What? Why?"

"We learn more about the Pepper coming in with that, the second guard with an invisibility cloak will observe how they treat the guard."

"But what if they see that guard and change their actions because of that?"

"The third guard observing with the seeing-eye spell will detect that."

"And if they notice them?"

"Then they're powerful enough to be told that they can enter."

"And then the fourth guard watches them?"

"Exactly!"

Bubble Time

I knew that, with the way the spell worked, only seconds passing outside the bubble as it flew, it would feel like hours inside it.

So I had prepared, food, water, a waste pouch, and a good book to read, and set off.

The hours inside the bubble passed, and I wasn't worried.

But after I finished the food, and was nearly out of water, I got worried. Despite the risk, I ended the spell to check where I was.

I was at my destination, sure. But the time dilation was reversed, seconds inside the bubble were weeks out here...

A Quiet Drink

I was sipping a beer in the corner of the drinking hole I came to to decompress.

She then sat down opposite me, a soda water in her hand. I went to speak when I saw her face.

I've seen plenty of looks of desperation and fear, but not one so desperate, so afraid.

I went to speak when she grabbed my hand, and stared at me.

I was confused, until a couple of big men  entered the drinking hole, looked around, then left through the side door.

"I hope you'll be ok..."

"It's not them."

She stared behind me.

Cat Inn

The cat was thin, tired looking, and dressed in rags.

"Please, Tavern Runner, I need food, warmth!"

The innkeeper took a long look at them and sighed.

"I can't just give out stuff for free. I would need you to work for it."

The cat looked the near-human with that unique suspicious look cats had.

"I don't do pest control."

"That's fine."

"Nor am I going to sleep with anyone."

"I'm not running a Cathouse."

The cat hissed.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I need someone to make rags from old clothing."

The cat looked annoyed, but nodded. 

Failsafes

I looked over the containment complex arm of the space station through the viewscreen.

"So what if the containment fields fail?"

The technician brought up a display I only glanced at.

"The internal walls are 3 meters thick and made of diamondsteel."

"And if they fail?"

"We can blow the airlocks, and it'll empty the arm of air."

"And if that fails?"

"Then we blow the disengagement ring and detach the arm and allow it to burn up falling into the planet."

"And if that fails?"

"We blow up the station."

"And if that fails?"

"We end the timeline."

"... Good."

Zombie Rescue

The helicopter was hovering over the rooftop, swaying slightly in the wind.

I yelled up at them as they lowered the rope ladder, my voice lost in the roar of the motors, the rush of the wind, and the earplugs they were wearing.

After a few moments, they began to pull the ladder up. I grabbed it, intent on pulling it down so they'd wait, but instead they flew off, forcing me to climb up towards them.

I had hoped to wait for at least one of my fellow zombies to get up with me but I did my best.

Quite The Education

The Barbarian had forced his way into the library's inner sanctum, but rather than attacking the wise people and stealing anything shiny, he bellowed he wanted to talk to the wisest about life and its meaning.

The oldest philosophy deepthinker got his attention, sat him down, and they had a quiet conversation for several hours.

Eventually The Barbarian left. The second oldest philosophy deepthinker asked the oldest if he taught the beast anything.

"Actually, he taught me much about what he learned in the afterlife.

Plus what it's like to make love to a dozen princesses at once. Very nice."

Get You Going

The robot would roll past my door just before I'd leave for work, every day. I didn't pay it much mind, every public space large enough to accumulate grime had a cleaning robot, what was one more?

Then came the day where, my morning stabilisers were, I found out later, contaminated due to a leak in one of the pipes to my pod. At the time, I was just feeling terrible and struggling to get ready, when the robot paused and knocked.

When I finally opened the door, it offered what looked like a stabiliser.

It was a rebels wake-uper.

Only Natural

"Putting aside the issue of the beaver dam-"

"Putting aside? Why are we putting aside the entire point of this adjudication, he put the beavers-"

"Because we need to discuss the issue of the mice."

"Mice? What mice?"

"The mice you put into my property!"

"Oh what nonsense, I never-"

"I have the report here of the independent nature investigator. He assures me that both the beavers and the mice have made their homes naturally, thus no-one is at fault for anything. Now, he could investigate further, if you want."

"Uh, no, fine."

"I'd like that."

"Oh good, you're innocent."

Just Vs Karma

In his anger, he picked up a sledgehammer,  screamed something incoherently, and put the hammer through the wall.

Given the argument was about the cost of the renovations, the cosmically just thing would have been for there to be some sort of treasure or cash cache behind it. That didn't happen.

Having him smash a wire and get several thousand volts through him would have been karmic, in a way. That didn't happen.

Instead, the hole revealed the nest of termites in the wall. Which was good to find, sure, but also added more costs.

So a little of both.

Curated

It appeared on my curated page, some sort of video about a tree, I didn't actually watch it. I was more concerned about how I was apparently a follower of the creator.

The name meant nothing to me, and there weren't any other videos on their channel.

So, I unfollowed and went about my day.

When I brought my page up later that night, I got a sort of answer when I saw all the posts asking what the hell that tree video that they watched was about.

Funnily enough, all those accounts were silent from the next morning on.

Post Apocalypse

When it comes to the apocalypse and what will you do afterwards, there are a few camps of thinking.

There are plenty of people who are eager to think they'll be among the survivors are are sure they'll have the skills and equipment to survive and thrive.

A few people are smart enough to play the odds and assume they'll die during it.

And others are sure it won't happen, which means they'll probably end up in the second group.

Me? I don't care what happens after the Apocalypse, I just want to be the one to start it, really.

Nachos Aesthetic

I had a big pile of nachos in front of me, on a large plate that was almost holding them all.

I began to pick at it, taking chips that didn't disturb the aesthetic, making sure that it still looked like a pleasant, somewhat big pile of nachos before me.

But at a certain point, I was stuck. There were no chips left that could be removed and keep things pretty. So I had to ruin the aesthetic, to keep eating.

Or, I could just make more nachos and add them on top.

I did that, for the ninth time.

Sustaining The Village

On her 15th birthday, I explained to me daughter how the village survived.

She of course knew about the Dungeon of The Undead Lion Queen, in the mountain behind the village. And like the world at large, she believed the village survived on the adventuring parties coming in to test themselves against the dungeon.

I explained to her that this wasn't correct. We survived by luring adventuring parties here and hiring them to kill the party inside the dungeon to stop them taking the treasure that lures parties here, each party killing the next.

She was surprisingly calm about it.

The End Pill

I looked at the box of pills, knowing they would be the end of me.

I slowly pulled out the first strip. I knew by the end of this one, I'd be on my way. By the time I got to the end of the box, there was no chance that I'd still be here.

I put the strip down and took a walk around the 'apartment' I was in, and returned with a glass of water.

I sighed, and decided to end things.

I swallowed my first dose of testosterone, and knew the old me was now officially dead.

Never Wanted

As a young teenager, the girls were all looking for a boy to explore boundaries and be nice. I was too busy fooling around with my computer.

As a young man, the young women wanted good looking boys for, well, sex and/or coolness. I had none of the above.

As a man, women were looking for a life partner, a mature bread winner. I was enjoying my time playing games.

As a middle aged man, women of a certain age are now looking for an experienced family man. Nope.

Never what was wanted, never pursued.

But I'm lazy, so...

Cheating Criminals

The two were lovers for several years before they began to work together. He'd always resisted it, not wanting to ruin what they had, but she kept pushing until he finally agreed to it.

They started with convenience stores, a few hundred each time, a couple grand on payday at the one with cheap smokes.

Then they moved to banks, one every few months, taking enough to live on, the two getting into a groove.

Then he found out that she was cheating on him with his brother.

He didn't agree that jacking cars wasn't at all the same thing.

Pigeon-Holed

I reached into my pigeon hole without looking, and was surprised to feel a small envelope. I pulled it out and opened it, finding an invitation inside. It was to Suzie's birthday party, which I was aware of, but never thought I'd get an invite to. She was the shining star of the sales team, I was just one of the tech monkeys. She couldn't know of my crush on her, so I tracked her down and asked her if this was put into my pigeon hole by mistake.

She said it was, so good thing that was cleared up.

Rise Up

Water began to fill the tank.

My efforts to break the chains, which had been steady and methodical, became rushed and desperate.

The water rose to my feet.

I began to focus on the one holding my right arm in place, since it would be the most useful if I freed it.

The water rose to my knees.

Somehow, a rivet gave out and my hand was free!

The water rose to my waist.

I forced my other hand through the loop, breaking it in the process.

The water rose to my chest.

I tried to escape.

The water blublublub....

Consequences

The lawyer walked in and sat down at the table, looking confused.

"You want to walk me through what happened here?"

"Not really."

"Well that's not going to help me craft a defence for you."

"I know."

"So... You want a different lawyer?"

"No, you'll do."

He leaned back, and after a moment he threw up his hands.

"Ok, so now what?"

"What's the time?"

"Uh... 11:35?"

"Please...."

"Please what?"

There was a knock on the door, and a cop walked in.

"All charges have been dropped."

The lawyer looked relieved. The client burst into tears.

"She's dead then..."